The invention relates generally to a method and device for screening incoming telephone calls and more specifically to a telephone with a ringer silencer capable of activation after reception of an incoming call.
A common problem which accompanies the increasing presence of telephone equipment in almost every aspect of modern society is the interruption which these devices can cause when they receive an unwanted incoming telephone call. Telephone communication has become so important, particularly with the increasing popularity of cellular phones, that continuous access to telephone communication has become the norm. As reliance on telephone communication increases, so does the need to avoid unnecessary interruptions caused by unwanted telephone calls.
Numerous solutions to the problem of handling unwanted telephone calls have been developed, ranging from simple home remedies to sophisticated screening devices. The simplest solution is to disconnect the line that links the phone to the network which supports telecommunications for a particular telephone. Another solution involves manually deactivating a ringer which signals the presence of an incoming call. Both of these solutions require that the user remember to reconnect the phone or manually reactivate the ringer at the point when the user desires to once again receive phone calls. Thus, human error can cause important calls to go unanswered even after the time period during which the user wishes to be undisturbed if the user forgets to reactivate the ringer or reconnect the phone.
A more advanced solution is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,171 to Klee, which describes an automatic telephone silencer connected to a timer. The timer causes the ringer of a phone to be deactivated at a predetermined time and to be reactivated after a predetermined interval. Although the timed automatic telephone silencer eliminates the problem of manual deactivation and reactivation of the ringer, the silencer indiscriminately screens out all calls, so that an important call goes unanswered because the user is unaware of the identity of the caller.
Utilizing a voicemail system to answer a phone enables the user to identify the caller. The user allows the phone to ring through until a voicemail device answers the call. The user can then answer the call personally, if the user so chooses, based upon the identification of the caller revealed in the voicemail message. However, this method of screening compounds the disruption of a ringing phone by adding the distraction of a voicemail message.
With the introduction of caller identification (caller ID), a more sophisticated call screening device is possible. U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,289 to Logsdon et al. describes a caller ID telephone security device which mutes the ringer of a phone until the caller ID of the incoming call can be ascertained. Upon determining the caller ID, the device compares the phone number to a list of phone numbers to determine whether to activate the ringer. In this manner the user can avoid interruption by unwanted phone calls while allowing other important phone calls to pass through. Though this invention represents a significant improvement over prior screening devices, it requires that a user predetermine which calls are to be screened and which calls are to be passed through. Should the user forget to make a determination on a particular phone number, an unwanted call might pass through or an important call might be screened out.
What is needed is a device and method for enabling a user to temporarily silence the ringer of a phone after an incoming call has activated the ringer and the caller identification information has been ascertained without having to wait for a predetermined time interval until either a voicemail system answers the call or the call is terminated.
A telephone with a ringer silencer call screening feature includes a ringer or other call-indicator for indicating receipt of an incoming call and includes a control unit that allows a user to selectively disable the ringer on a call-by-call basis. The control unit causes temporary deactivation of the ringer during an uninterrupted on-hook state of the telephone subsequent to activation of the ringer by receipt of the incoming call. The deactivation of the ringer automatically terminates upon conclusion of the incoming call. A control unit interface is connected to the control unit to enable a user to selectively deactivate the ringer, and a display is connected to the control unit to display the caller identification information.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ringer silencer function is performed locally by the control unit, which includes a ringer silencer connected to the ringer, a ringer reactivator for reactivating the ringer upon termination of the call, and a call status detector for signaling to the ringer reactivator upon conclusion of the call. The control unit is responsive to a keypad that triggers the ringer silencer when depressed. The display is preferably configured to present a mute ringer icon which is representative of the triggering keypad to indicate the assignment of a mute ringer function to the keypad.
In another embodiment, the mute ringer function is performed by signaling telecommunications switching equipment, such as a central office or equipment of a private branch exchange. The control unit includes a transmitter for transmitting a transfer-to-voicemail message to a central office which causes the call to be transferred from the telephone. The control unit is responsive to a keypad that triggers transmission of the transfer message. The display presents a transfer-to-voicemail icon which represents assignment of a transfer-to-voicemail function to the keypad.
A third embodiment of the invention combines aspects of the first and second embodiments to provide a user of the telephone with the option of choosing whether to silence the ringer locally by implementing the mute ringer function or by implementing the transfer-to-voicemail function.
A method for screening incoming calls on a telephone includes receiving an incoming call over a telephone network and displaying caller identification information for the incoming call. A determination is made whether to answer the call based upon the caller identification information. If the determination is made not to answer the call, then the ringer is temporarily silenced while the phone remains in an uninterrupted on-hook state until the call is terminated. The ringer silencing can be performed either by opening a switch between the ringer and a ringer signal generator or by transmitting a transfer-to-voicemail signal to a central office which transfers the call to a remote site enabled for voicemail functions.